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Black Women from the Suffrage Era

As we celebrate the 100th anniversary of the women's right to vote, come learn from Dr. Hayden-Foster and Dr. Sharp about two black women who helped this cause!

Born enslaved in 1797, Sojourner Truth spent most of her long life as an outspoken advocate for abolition, temperance, and women's rights.Even in abolitionist circles, some of Truth's opinions were considered radical. She sought political equality for all women and chastised the abolitionist community for failing to seek civil rights for black women as well as men. She openly expressed concern that the movement would fizzle after achieving victories for black men, leaving both white and black women without suffrage and other key political rights. Most known for her anti-lynching advocacy, Ida B. Wells-Barnett also openly confronted white women's racism within the suffrage movement. She was a founder of the National Association of Colored Women’s Club which was created to address issues dealing with civil rights and women’s suffrage.